Chicken feed hopper



April 23, 1957 1.. BISHOP CHICKEN FEED HOPPER Filed Sept. 15, 1955 m y N e mh n km .W 5 3H A L United States Patent cmoKEN FEED:- nonnn- Lewis L. B ishop', Lawrenceburg, Tenn. Application September-13, 195%, sentir No. 534,09s' 2 claims. Cl. 119-52 This invention relates to a chicken feed hopper and it consists in the constructions, arrangements and combinations herein described and claimed.

This application is a continuation in part of my pending application filed April 4, 1955, Serial Number 498,978, now abandoned.

It is the cardinal object of the invention to provide a feed hopper wherein the top wall thereof is inclined in a downward direction to prevent chickens from roosting thereon and contaminating feed within the hopper, as well as to readily shed water which may fall thereon when the hopper is placed or used outside.

It is also an object of the'invention to provide a feed hopper of simple construction and readily constructed from sheet metal, which may be shaped to proper form, the end walls being welded or soldered at the juncture of the bottom and front walls, the top wall being hingedly connected to the front wall and further including an interior partition downwardly inclined in a rearward direction forming a bin for discharge of feed under action of gravity to the feed hopper.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of means for readily suspending the feed hopper from a wall surface of a chicken house or the like, in a manner which will permit ready removal for cleaning purposes.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will be apparent from the following description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Figure l is a perspective view of the chicken feed hopper.

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, a portion of the top wall being broken away.

Figure 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a plan view of the blank, on a reduced scale, from which the feeder may be formed.

There is illustrated a chicken feed hopper generally indicated by the reference numeral 10, constructed from sheet material and comprising a back wall 11, a bottom wall 12, a front wall 13 contiguous with the bottom wall, a portion of the bottom and front walls having an arcuate formation as at 14. The front wall 13 terminates as a rolled edge 15, spaced at suitable distance below the upper edge of an inclined hopper wall, as will be described, forming an elongated opening 18 through which chickens may have access to the feed within the hopper. An end wall 19 is integrally formed with the back wall 11, the upper edges of which are inclined upwardly toward the rear wall 11.

A partition 20 is secured between the walls 19, having flanges 21 at respective ends thereof and provided with apertures aligned with apertures formed in the end walls 19 for reception of rivets 22. However, the flanges 21 may be conventionally spot welded to the walls if desired. As clearly shown in Figure 3, the partition 2th is arranged in a downward and rearward inclination stop- Patented Apr. 23, 1957 'ice . 2 ping short of the rear wall 11, forming a throat or pas sag'e 23 which it will be noted is at a point below the rolled edge 15'. By this arrangement, a hopper 24 is provided and in which feed placed in the hopper will flow downwardly under action of gravity, to a level below the rolled edge 15.

Theupper edge of the partition 20 is preferably of rolled formation interrupted at spaced intervals to form cars 20' which are received between ears 17 of a closure plate 17 and hinged thereto by a pintle 16. The closure plate 17 willbe forwardly and downwardly inclined by virtue of the inclined upper ends of the end walls 19 when in closed position.

It will be seen that by forming the upper edges of the end walls 19 at an inclination, the closure plate 17 will assume a similar position and chickens cannot perch thereon, and likewise if the feeder is positioned outdoors the feed within the hopper will be protected in the event of inclement weather.

Reference is now made to Figure 4, wherein the blank is illustrated and from which the hopper may be formed. The medial portion 25 of the blank represents the back wall 11, the portion 26 represents the front wall 13, while the portions 27 of the blank form the end walls. In shaping the hopper, the outer longitudinal edge of the portion 26 is formed in any suitable manner to provide the rolled edge 15. The portion is then bent along the line 28 and the end walls 18 are formed by bending the material along lines 29 so that the walls extend at right angles to the portion 25. Finally the portion 26 is curved to form the arcuate shape 14. With the edges of the various portions of the blank in abutting relation they may be readily welded or soldered to complete the hopper. The partition 20 may then be secured within the hopper, and the closure plate 17 secured there- In order to suspend the hopper from a supporting surface, the back wall 13 is formed with a pair of openings 30 spaced inwardly of the ends of the hopper, adapted to engage respective fastenings secured in the supporting surface. The hopper may also be supported by means of the pins 31 secured in the end walls 19 by a chain or other conventional suspension means, said means being detachably connected between the pins and a supporting surface. In either event, the hopper may be readily removed from the supporting surface for cleaning purposes.

It will be seen that a number of chickens may feed from the hopper at the same time, and by virtue of the curved bottom and front wall, it will be impossible for the chickens to pick the feed in a manner to scatter the feed from the hopper. Also, this curved portion tends to move the feed toward the center of the hopper where it may be readily reached by the chickens. As the level of the grain is lowered, additional grain will feed downwardly through the passage 23 under action of gravity.

While I have shown and specifically described the hopper, this is by way of illustration only, and I consider as my own all such modifications in construction as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A chicken feed hopper comprising a back wall, a bottom and front wall contiguous therewith and having an arcuate portion therebetween and extending longi tudinally of the hopper, an end wall integrally formed with respective edges of said back wall and having a downwardly and forwardly inclined upper edge and further having a lower contour complemental to said bottom and front wall, the abutting edges being secured together, a closure plate pivotally mounted between said end walls at the lower points of inclination of the upper edges thereof, said front wall terminating interme diate the height of the hopper forming an opening through which chickens may have access to feed within the hopper. g

, 2. A chicken feed hopper comprising a back wall, a bottom and front wall, said bottom and front wall having an arcuate contour therebetween and extending longitudinally of the hopper, an end wall connected with respective edges of said back wall, each end wall having a downwardly and forwardly inclined upper edge and further having a lower contour complemental to said bottom and front wall, the abutting edges of said walls being secured together, a closure plate pivotally mounted between said end walls and normally resting upon said upper inclined edges of said end walls, said front wall .,terminating. intermediate the height of. the hopper and References Cited-in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS. 1,831,828 Swendsen Nov. 17, 1931 1,899,818 McCray Feb. 28, 1933 2,713,321 Keen July 19, 1955 2,727,489 Sklar Dec. 20, 1955 

